Virat Kohli: The boy has come of age

By: Subhadeep Bhattacharjee

December 24, 2009 is a day spectators at the Mecca of Indian cricket, Eden Gardens would remember for a long time as they witnessed the birth of a new champion in Virat Kohli. When Kohli had come out to bat India were spot of bother at 23 for 2 chasing a huge target of 315 against Sri Lanka. If there was disappointment among fans, cricket administrators were worried as Eden's emotional crowd had in the past given Indian cricket some ugly sights when India had been in a loosing situation. The World Cup semifinal of 1996 versus Sri Lanka and the 1999 Test match versus Pakistan where the stands had to be emptied comes back to haunt India cricket fans till date

But Virat Kohli and Gautam Gambhir not only gave some relief to the administrators but also made sure Eden witnessed one of Team India's best ODI chase. Kohli the former U-19 World Cup winning captain took charge of the situation and played a stunning knock to steal a match from under Sangakara's throat. India's most loved cricket stadium which saw many records break during the encounter got a glimpse of the Kohli's talent. He dominated the innings playing proper cricketing shots through the ground hardly giving any chance to the bowlers. Gautam Gambhir's gesture to hand over the Man of the Match award to him was perhaps the greatest honour coming from a team-mate.

If anybody thought that Kohli's performance at Eden was fluke the the tri-series in Bangladesh has given Kohli a chance to prove his class. With scores of 9, 91, 71 n.o. and the latest 102 n.o Kohli has emerged India's most reliable batsman ahead of champions like Sehwag, Yuvraj, Gambhir and captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Another thing that strikes is Kohli's performance is the fact that all his knocks have come in the second innings and along with Yuvraj Singh and Dhoni he forms a rare club of cricketers who can perform under pressure while chasing.

Another interesting thing that is notice worthy in Kohli's game is the fact that he can score at brisk pace even though he doesn't seems to be a slam-bang cricketer. He is a run accumulator of the likes of Michael Bevan and Michael Hussy. Being a part of a star studded line-up which has big hitters of the ball Kohil perfectly fits the bill. The only thing that Kohli has to keep in mind is not to get complacent with his superb performance ans maintain this consistency. He certainly has been a find for the Indian team ahead of the World Cup in 2011.